Chakra
by Ultimagu
Summary: Naruto finds 3 new teachers to lead him to overcoming Sasuke and proving he is strong to one day be Hokage. It doesn't start off in the Naruto Universe, that comes in the 3rd chapter. Takes place after Naruto comes back from the 3 year training.
1. Hypothesis

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fanfiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 21

Lily: Age 20

Red: Age 21

Cindy: Age 20

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It was Ohallow's...no wait...it was Christmas eve. Yeah...we'll say it was Christmas Eve. There in a cabin for four friends. Their names...probably the most known throughout the multi-verse. Their actions...their feelings...their thoughts...all recorded and viewed over by thousands. Their very way of life reciprocated amongst the masses they would lead. But that is later...and this is the beginning of their tale...when they had no power or mass recognition to their name.

Each was perhaps twenty years old at the time. Two of them...whom would become married later in life...were perhaps the most romantic couple you could ever find. For eight years they had giggled with each other...laughed with each other...held hands...gone to dates...and...well...done a few other things to.

"Will you two keep it down?" yelled the third occupant in the front room from his couch. Since he and the fourth occupant were not a couple...they did not share the only other bedroom...sticking him to listen to the actual couple's constant movements and weird little noises couples make with each other.

When no sounds came he yelled at them again, "Look...I mean come on! Its been what? Eight years? You two plan to marry sometime soon...consummate your fucking relationship already!" he curses at them enough to make the fourth occupant blush. A little firecracker herself...it was not uncommon to hear her normally shy lips...part words of extreme vulgarity. Why did she blush? Because she was listening in to our third occupant swearing at the first two play around with each other.

Still no answer came, "I mean...come on! For the people who don't get any...you could honor the fact that humans have needs!" he continues on at them...grinning that their noises were slowing down. Though he was not completely satisfied with their not entirely stopping just yet.

Still...no noise that sounded like words came. "How about this...you want help? I'll come in there right now...show you how the whole thing is done!" he says this time with a hint of suaveness to his voice. That charm that attracted the flies. That zazz that attracted the alley cats. Yes indeed...that suaveness that did him absolutely no good with the ladies.

Now...all noise had stopped but the odd snigger of laughter from our fourth occupant. Finally...the first two occupants emerged from their room...glaring at the center of their lack of playtime at the moment. His natural response was to raise his shoulders as if he were innocent of any crime. That which was not true...as he had quite the reputation for playing jokes and pranking people.

"Sure Sicerio..." the man of the couple said in a highly delectable platter of sarcasm, dripping with exquisite venom. It was a meal meant to kill by words alone after shoving them down someone's throat. The woman of the couple just rolled her eyes at the rivalry the two men had with each other. It was no little known fact that Sicerio had had a crush on her in the seventh grade...but...that had been oh so quite a long time ago. She was sure the men had completely forgot about that that fact. The fact that their rivalry stemmed from their need to make her love them. Besides...if she remembered correctly...it was the fourth occupant who had ended the whole thing when she snatched Sicerio's heart. But...being the constant oddball that Sicerio was...he had never acted on it.

"Oh yeah Red? Well if I remember correctly it was I who won that chess competition," Sicerio said back to his good...and probably best friend. It seemed she had missed out on quite a bit of the conversation if they were already fighting over chess. Instead of scolding them...she watched as the fourth occupant, her own best friend came out of her room silently...and attempted to stop Sicerio, sneaking up from behind him with some pop.

It was a well known fact amongst their friends...Sicerio was the probably the strongest...the smartest...the best paid...but he had a few severe weaknesses. While he was immune to pain, heat and cold...chemically...slip him some caffeine, or alcohol and he was as drunk as a sailor on land.

"I can hear you Lily," Sicerio spoke when she was about to come up upon him. He continued on with, "Your steps are better and lighter...but you forgot about the swishing of the pop in the 2 liter." he spoke with his usual voice. That usual voice had been the bane of mankind. It was when he really was suave. When he was hip. When he was certainly the cockiest man alive. The voice just screamed in the subtle languages that he knew everything. That he was always eight steps ahead of you, and three steps behind you in pretend.

Lily just sighed and sat down next to him...closer than what regular friends might do...but with enough distance to say 'we're not sleeping together'.

Red in turn looked to his own woman...for that was how referred to the female best friends, 'his woman,' and 'Sicerio's woman'. "Cindy..." his very mentioning of her name sending the needed sentence into her cerebral cortex. She sat down on the opposite couch, opposite from Lily...much as Red sat beside her opposite of Sicerio.

The four were silent for a time. Silent as you can be when its three in the morning, the officially dubbed, 'Dead Hours'. It was Sicerio who broke the silence...his cheerfulness always catching people off guard after what he had been through. "So...are we going to sit here? Or are we going to go back and make us a baby!" The others look at him and just shake their heads. It was also a well known fact that Sicerio was desperate for a child to come his way...and accepted just about any relationship that came his way. In turn...growing closer and closer to Lily seemed to become a religion for him. It was the very reason why they all left eventually in his relationships. He was just so obviously in love with someone else entirely.

Lily smacked him upside the head for this. Her shiny red hair giving his a smack at the turn of her head as well for double the effect. She was a little disappointed he took it in stride and grabbed some of her hair with his mouth when it smacked him and playfully munched on it, not really doing anything but putting his lips together.

The four friends decide to reminiscence about their pasts. Everyone but Sicerio talking mostly. He for the most part sat back, watched them, and built up his courage. After a while he hushes them, saying he had something very important to tell them.

They in turn silence themselves as he looks at each of them and speaks two...immortal words. It were these words that changed the face of the world...and lead to far greater bloodsheds and pinnacles of power and golden ages than perhaps any other other two words, "I joined."

I joined? I joined?! Those were the words? But what did they mean? The answer lay in the state of the world. He had joined the army. The friends are morbidly silent at this. Their good...no...best friend, the strongest and brightest of them, was condemning himself to die in a fool's war. Why? Why? But...how do you ask why someone condemns them self? How do you ask in a subtle language meant not to tread toes, just where in their past did it lead them to this?

The friends...were silent...morbidly silent. And it came as no surprise that the friends offered small words of comfort and hope for Sicerio...before they turned in for the night. It started with Cindy and Red slipping back into their room to sleep. Then, it was Sicerio scooting Lily around just enough on their couch so he could lay down...with her sitting on the end, with his head in her lap...and her fingers running through his hair. It was...one of those romantic moments you find in your lifetime where everything is about to explode into fiery chaos...but you just sit down for the night and cuddle.

They spoke no words...their actions spoke everything that they felt. For example, Lily could feel the steely resolve in her good friend laying in her lap. She could feel the cold articulating mind that processed everything behind his warm visage...the very thing that separated him from taking any final step into obtaining his goal in life...fatherdom. The kingdom of family...for which he had sought for twenty long years.

In return, he could feel the bubbling fear in her. The truly warm and living heart that beat just to make him happy. It warmed a part of his heart he had frozen it seemed. For to all the world he was the nicest and quite possibly kindest person in the world to see...but behind his mask...you could find the dark parts of every human heart thinking harshly and coldly of the world. It was a miracle that he had any sanity attached to his mind as it was.

It was awhile, long after the soft snores of the true official couple could first be heard when he spoke, almost in the softest whisper, "I've been thinking about the universe lately." And she knew where this was headed...he wanted his thoughts to be known should he die...and in return for his silent plea to be remembered she gave a small hug that she 'forgot' to stop giving to his head, pulling him close to her center.

"I believe," he continued, "that the universe that we live in is just a middle ground. That their is universe underlying to this one, where infinite energy resides...or at least as near infinite as the human mind can imagine." He stopped to think on this again a little.

"This universe is almost completely unattached. There are however, small points where what is on our side can channel this energy...though I believe it must be objects of living essence and mind. A small piece to every piece of the universe channels this energy I call ether into this level of the universe." his words are that of an abstract attachment.

"I think I can conclude, that if this is true, that with enough energy channeled, you could create an overlying level to the universe. Where different laws bind the world." he settles his thoughts to look up at her, his brown eyes curious for her opinion.

She cleared her throat and spoke the absolute truth on what she could, "I believe that its a deep thought." He nodded towards her and lightly stroked her light red hair in absence of conscious, articulate thought.

There he laid, and she sat for quite some time, wrapped up in their own tender thoughts, and each other. It was a quarter past three when she made the motion for herself to go to bed, and he eagerly agreed...as he was missing out on the the precious sleep so often denied to him.

As she was about to enter the smaller bedroom she looked back to the huddled form of her good friend and wondered before deciding another one of those things that was not only a ripple...but indeed a small wave in cause and effect. She turned to him and called, "Come on Sicerio, its too cold to sleep out here," her hand motioning for him to follow.

Now there is a saying that you can attract flies with honey, more than you can attract them with salt. Well, Sicerio on that night proved just how much women rule as the honey, when he got up without a word, and followed her into the smaller bedroom, and laying his sleeping gear...meaning a pillow and blanket on the floor beside the twin sized bed.

Now...with both laying in their respective bed, or 'bed' for one, they spoke softly to each other as the night floated on into more dead hours of the night. As a historian...it is pointless to remark on every little word spoken...but on record there is a very interesting conversation at the end that does take place.

"Why?" It was a sudden question, one of which so sudden and so filled with panicky quivers of the tone that it could only be a question to his earlier statement that had filled her with bubbling fear. Well, now the cauldron had bubbled over.

He looked up at her for a length of time before speaking, "Because I have nothing. Good friends yes...but no love in my heart. No goal I can accomplish. What good do I achieve in wasting space, and air, and nourishment?" he asked in return at length to her own question. His words meant something else she knew. He was only just born before given away...never to receive the love or attention of a mother or father. He was only two when the scars he bore to this very day, when inflicted upon him by the guzzling flames. He was only ten...just half his life he had lived, and he was trying to get away from it all. To kill himself, and be done with life. He was only fourteen when his family was murdered...killed in an accident by a drunken idiot...who couldn't contain himself...or his rifle when the family had been driving by in a van. Three shots fired...and not a thing so much as scratched Sicerio. That did not say that his grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters were not unharmed...or even alive. She had helped him...but he had sealed his heart away. It had already been viced in tightly, under strict reign and control...but now it seemed no key existed to unlock its true depths. Just fleeing moments of thought and feeling.

His words did indeed mean something...they would be words to inspire Eight Great Men of their time to defy all thought and common sense/reason, and redevelop what it meant to be the top. The Third World War ended all conflict on Earth...the middle ground world of the universe for human civilization for almost three centuries. It however, did lead directly into a war into what was to come as the pinnacle of power, between these very same Eight Great Men.


	2. Ether

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fanfiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 25

Lily: Age 24

Red: Age 25

Cindy: Age 24

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It had been just a little over four years, and the war, thanks to all efforts and hopes, was over. That was not to say that it had not come without its price. The end to such a tragic war, cost the independence of several ancient nations, and millions of lives. Sicerio...had been fortunate enough to return to the quartet of close friends...but he had returned much as they expected, like a broken man. He was 25 years of age...and yet it felt more appropriate to say 25 years _old_. He was beginning to thin in his hair, and sported a bit of a dark brown haze to his jaw in the form of a beard.

He had arrived home to them, in their house designed just for the four friends after high school. He had arrived, unannounced, and entirely unexpected. His arrival had been a joyous occasion at first, because they had not been able to receive word from or about him since he had been apart of the massive invasion into Western Europe, a major block to the world unity.

The three of them had been going about their normal routine, Cindy was attempting to cook a delicious meal for her, finally, husband. Red, was upstairs practicing his unrivaled skill at chess, and Lily had been taking a light nap on the couch, just laying there dreaming of what she felt might really be, her last night with Sicerio. Saddened, she hadn't even been able to hug him before he had left very early in the morning, on Christmas Day...to fight a bloody war.

The doorbell had rung, and it was Red who had answered the door at length, and much to his surprise there was a sallow, familiar face with a frown that seemed to be stuck on his face. It had taken Red awhile to realize who it was, but when he had he jumped in to give his best friend a welcoming hug, crying out, very manly like, in joy for the return.

Cindy had been the next to follow the sounds of her husband crying, very manly like of course. She too took a few moments before able to greet her long time friend, with a great big hug. The noises the husband and wife made attracted the sleepy redhead, and she, in just her PJ's, came to the front door to attend to the manner that had woken her up. Now, they say mates can immediately recognize each other. For all intents and purposes, lets assume this to be true, and that Lily really was just that sleepy. For she stood there for at least ten minutes, in the awkward silence her presence had brought in on the hugging trio, to realize the soldier her friends were hugging...was her other friend! It didn't take long there for her to be in his arms, and spinning around. Of course, Red and Cindy noticed that 'permanent' frown, was suddenly no where in sight, and all you could see was the epitome of white and _shining_ teeth.

Once settled down, the four friends sat on very similar couch's to the ones they had been on late in the night, over four years ago on Christmas Eve. There, the four caught each other up on what had been happening. Lily hadn't had any suitors while Sicerio had been gone, which had seemed to please him outright. Obviously Red and Cindy had taken that final step. Cindy worked as a preacher in a nearby church, and helped in charities all the time. Red, was an accomplished Physicist, and not to mention a pretty well renowned Chess player. Lily...she had become a nurse, to help all the poor babies that caught her eye and without a doubt, instantly her heart.

So here they were, talking amiably with each other, as well lots of cuddling. It was only natural for Cindy and Red to cuddle, they were married. But to those who had not been in the war amongst the friends, they were surprised when Sicerio, had promptly upon sitting down, pulled Lily right to his side, and his arm refused to leave its spot around her waist. They say war changes you...and when it concerned what he was striving for and desired, war had changed Sicerio to be a go-getter.

Red and Cindy were surprised, but they each held identical smirks within moments, silent communication going on between them. They needed to shut their door tonight...just in case any extra noises were in the household. Lily was the one beyond surprised however. Sicerio had always been affectionate towards her...and really only her...but this...was adventurous for him, in front of their friends. That didn't weigh in on her decision to push her romantic momentum with him and lay her head on his shoulder.

Brown eyes looked down at her slyly...and a mini version of himself was doing a victory dance in his head, _I was right...I was right! Boo-Ya!_. "I do have something important to say...and...it will explain why I don't know how long I'll be here," at his words they were confused...and figured 'oh great...is there another war we don't about?'

Three pairs of eyes were on him and he chuckled very quietly and very nervously...a clear sign this wasn't easy. The brown pair of eyes was full of acceptance at anything his best friend had to say. The hazel pair of eyes was curious...but also accepting. It was however the blue pair of eyes, filled with a never ending pool of something he wanted so much to accept, that filled him with the courage to go on. "I believe that no amount of words could convince you of what I have to say...so rather instead...a demonstration would be more beneficial," and with that he looks off into the kitchen right in the open room next living room they were in, and before they could ask what caught his attention, they too noticed that a single plate came hovering towards them from the kitchen.

They watched the thing hover to a spot in between the group and waver up and down, before doing little back flips, if it was possible for a plate to do a back flip, and dances of kinds it seemed. Their attention was snagged suddenly by the sound of Sicerio's voice again, "Lily...do you remember our discussion about my thoughts before I left?"

All eyes diverted to Lily now...who at another time might've whammed the sly oaf beside her in the back of the head for putting the spotlight on her it such strange situation. But upon thinking about something vague came to mind, "This universe draws energy from a universe below it?"

He nods and gives her an affirmation secret from the couple on the other couch by squeezing her closer to him, "After I left for the war, I attempted to test this idea out...but the problem was...how do you test out such an idea?"

The nodded their heads in turn, he was in professor mode...and they'd been suckered into it! "After several hundred tries and fails...I came upon another idea...that objects that transfer energy use a selective field to influence that energy in a certain way...otherwise...the transfered energy would be of no use without a means to use it." That...made enough sense at least.

"So I tried more to influence the way I used the energy, rather than the transferring of energy, and much to my surprise...I discovered strings." He seemed to lull their making them think he was wacky in the head...but their eye caught the hovering plate and they thought better of it. "Their are relatively an infinite amount of strings on and inside your body...because each one is for each cell and how it reacts to its environment...I'd wager that each cell even has relatively an infinite amount...but thats something so minute I have no clue how to know. Anyway...their are eight unassociated strings to each body...and most of them are like flailing piano wires...what many people call our auras in nature. How we have the ability to make people move to the side depending how 'intimidating' we look...is really a clash of swirling strings and the stronger of the two is the one who parts the crowd."

He took a moment to breathe and let his fingers absently rub Lily's waist...much to her pleasure, and their friend's amusement. "While out in the field...my platoon saw me practicing using my strings to my own conscious will and command. We...didn't get along too well...to say the least, and in the end...I was forced to teach them how to use their strings," his voice seemed a little more hardened...something had happened that had angered him greatly.

"Eventually even these seven _men_," he spit out the word angrily, "quarreled amongst themselves on how to use these strings. The problem...is that all seven men...are not good people...and there is virtually no limit as far as I can figure to how much energy you can transfer. There are seve...eight men in this world with infinite power...and nothing to stop them." His correction was winking them in the face...himself. He was the eighth...or...rather the first.

"That is why I am going to be working to stop them...if its the last thing I do," and his words held the conviction to his statement too. He certainly sounded like he'd blow up the universe if thats what it took. His friends staring at him in total awe...the plate went back and settled itself in the cabinet. It was Red...the more knowledgeable of the three listeners who had the first question.

"So what does that do to the Big Bang theory?" Cindy felt a good urge to smack her husband in the back of the head, while the other couple just dropped their heads in shame.

Sicerio looked up into his eyes, "As far as I could figure...the Big Bang is the closest bet...just instead of everything starting off as matter super condensed into one tiny spot...lots and lots and lots of energy from what would be the universe below us now...was disturbed, and solidified into the universe we live in now."

Again, his friends sat around and stared at him in awe, and Cindy looked at him suspiciously, as much he knew she would. No one knew her quite like Sicerio did...save for Red himself. "Perhaps you used some sort of trick to do that, and you're just having us on?" Her eyebrow upraised as she gave him the challenge.

His smirk in return was to say the least disconcerting. "A trick?...perhaps. But no amount of trickery can do anything," and with that Lily's glasses lifted off of her face, Red's button up shirt unbuttoned itself, and Cindy's face turned really, really red. "So you see Cindy...how could I use trickery on all three of you at the same time?"

Red and Lily were rather smart people, and they were confused what had happened to Cindy to make her turn so red, but it was Lily who voiced her opinion...in a subtle manner of course. "Sicerio Bryant Mayo...what did you do to her?" Her response was all color draining from his face...aww...so he had failed to look too far into his actions.

He gave an innocent little whistle...and zoomed off the couch as fast as possible, Lily, Red, and Cindy who had refastened her pants, started chasing after him around the house, all laughing merrily inside their head.


	3. The Black Hole Thing

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fanfiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 26

Lily: Age 25

Red: Age 26

Cindy: Age 25

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Red awoke to the same sound he'd been hearing for the last at what he'd counted, as 409 days _beep beep beep_. He was tired, he was cranky, and above all...he was still...a virgin. He was 25 years old...and he'd been a eunuch all his life because of some crazy contest he'd had when he was sixteen. The doctors had said it would reduce the bull-headedness. It did...to an extent.

Sicerio had been running the four of them ragged with this 'Ether' idea for over a year. Sure...Red could see these strings, he could flex as them at will, he could even sharpen them for a while and cut his steak, but for the life of him...he couldn't do anything else that Sicerio had talked about. Cindy and Lily had gotten along just fine, something about them just gave them a weakness in the area...less energy channeled or some sort...Sicerio had explained it one night when he was super drunk, but that didn't mean post-Super Drunk Red remembered it.

He got out of his bed, and by his I mean _his alone_. Cindy had been distant lately. Lily and he weren't always that close anyway, and Sicerio was either stuck in new ways to exploit ether...or he was courting Lily. To put it bluntly...Red felt alone, and for all intents and purposes, he was alone. His hand where it once would've drifted lazily towards his glasses, now instead a green hued string found its way to his glasses, and delicately placed them on his face, another idea of Sicerio's. To next to subconsciously use the strings like muscle memory.

Pulling on some indoor wear, which means he put on a pair of pants and only a pair of pants for those crazed fangirls out there, and made his way slowly from the guest bedroom where he had been kicked out to, towards the bathroom. Much to his discomfort and growing irritation, the bathroom was occupied...and he found it occupied for the next quarter of an hour as he tapped his foot in impatience.

When it was none other than Cindy to come out with a gleaming body and a red tint to her cheeks, he knew what she'd been doing...and that only fueled his anger. Grumbling he stormed inside the bathroom to take care of his morning needs, least he urinate all over the carpet like some untrained dog like he was treated around here. A nice shave to get rid of the five o'clock shadow, a decent shower to get the blood flowing, and a firm scrubbing of the teeth and he was on his way out in a better mood than before.

Course, Red was much like a pmsing woman, which fit because he had no male genitalia. He was happy now that he looked and felt better...but a single glance at the three people who had been irking him for the last few months and he was practically seething in anger once again. There sitting around the kitchen table were three people who he'd once found himself calling his best friends. Now...he called them irritating shits.

He sat down in, to his fortunate credit, his favorite chair. Just simple work...with lots of cushion for the toushee...except he was a skinny man...and didn't really have a toushee. But who are we to complain about someone's favorite chair?

With Red's presence the conversation slowed down a fair ways, but it didn't end entirely. Just quiet, peaceful conversation floating between three people, as the fourth certainly wasn't going to talk.

After a hearty breakfast, bought on a Physicist, Nurse, Pastor, and Veteran's salary, the four went down into the basement to practice. It had been established that, if they were to help Sicerio in his quest to bring an end to the error he had caused, all four would be needed to stop fourteen men. That is to say, that each of the seven found an apprentice to begin training their own army/society.

Red found himself jealous at the things Sicerio could do. While Red, Lily, and Cindy had been working at it for over a year and three months, and thus far had been able to grasp things and see the strings, Sicerio made it all look like child's play by coiling the strings and even splitting them. He'd seen Sicerio write paper after paper upon feasible possibilities and then work hours and hours over the idea. He'd seen Sicerio sharpen his strings and then scratch a diamond. He'd even seen Sicerio take his strings and bring a dog back from the brink of death.

Sicerio was becoming stronger, healthier, and what appeared, even younger. Alas, the last one fluxed between looking seventeen again, and then the next day looking forty. It was his newest idea...to attach split strings to cells and rejuvenate them with bursts of energy. The exact pattern of bursts was all that seemed to elude Sicerio as he expanded onward and outward.

Within an hour's time...Red was deep in his foul mood, and it didn't help that he was confused. He was confused because Sicerio's strings were changing color. They'd flicker back and forth between Green and Yellow. It was difficult to make out, but the change was there if you paid close attention, and Red was paying very close attention.

What furthered his anger, was that Lily and Cindy were they themselves getting the hang of sharpening their strings. This, would not do. Red was not a man to be surpassed, even if he cared little for the subject. He was going to prove he could be better and do more.

With nary a conscious thought, Red opened taps in his body and began to soak in energy from the Underverse, as Sicerio had dubbed it. At first, the others paid little mind because Red was prone to solving his difficulties with more energy. However, when they felt a small payload of a nuclear bomb swirling inside of Red's body they became nervous of what he planned to do.

Lily watched with uncertain eyes. She'd only seen Sicerio push this point in energy once...and he'd been testing the waters at that to how much his body could withstand. Her blue eyes filled with that uncertainty and fear. Her red hair waving in the breeze being created from the swirling vortex of energy.

Cindy watched with more angry like eyes. Red had been...annoying her lately. She couldn't explain it...and perhaps she was just being a bitch...but she wanted more from a man. Hypocrisy at its best, or worst. You decide! Her brown eyes more centered on that anger, with just the sparks of fear and worry for her husband. Her brown hair flying more and more as visible lines of the energy began to swirl.

Sicerio, the last of the four friends, watched with more interested eyes. His life was very much like that swirling vortex at the moment. As long as there was something to keep the energy gravitating to the center, something to focus on, he wouldn't up and dissipate into the wind. His brown eyes were filled with worry as well, and dark brown hair barely moved, but that was because it was short.

Red kept tapping and tapping and tapping. He kept waiting for the moment he'd have enough energy to do whatever it took to prove he was better, and he could feel it coming on. In his giddiness he could not feel his body begin to tear at the seams in the fabrics of reality, but his friends could see the tears begin in him.

All Red could feel was this peak coming, closer and closer. He could just _feel_ it in his bones. He began to tremble with anticipation, but all his friends saw was trembling because of the muscles ripping. Red began to buckle as the end throbbed closer and closer, but all his friends saw was a man whose legs were about to snap in half.

And the calm before the storm began. The light stopped, the wind stopped, but the energy kept coming. Suddenly, Red opened his eyes and stared at his _friends_ with a deep seated hatred, "Checkmate." And his body disappeared...mostly. In his place stood this nothingness. It was contained, and thus not entirely a black hole...but nothing seemed to come out of it. You couldn't see through it...and you couldn't see it. It was just...dark.

The three friends in their stupor, and who can blame them when Red's feet were still on the ground...mangled and much like his name red, walked closer. The floor all around the black nothingness was also stained red. Nothing spattered, it all just looked like it had suddenly dropped. In their minds a golden set of eyes kept suddenly opening up to them and then disappearing. Red's changed eyes...golden eyes filled with hatred, compared to his once gentle and teasing brown eyes.

Sicerio, Cindy, and Lily kept coming closer, and kept coming closer. Despite having watched several scary movies before, they didn't have the mind to think '_err...this is wrong. Step away from the ligh-...I mean darkness! Step away from the darkness!_' Instead, the continued to walk, until each of them at the same time...toed the nothingness, and they all felt singularity. Their masses squeezed down into an infinitely small point and then hurtled at unreal velocities through time and space.

It seemed like no time at all...when really it took 25,000 years for them to come back. Each landed with a thump on a wooden floor. Lily and Cindy were up quickly with red tints to their faces...seeing as they had landed in compromising positions atop of Sicerio. Already they were feeling...the anime effect.

They looked around and noted much to the oddity of where they just were, there was this young blond lady with a diamond in her forehead, yelling at some naive fifteen year old blond with a god-awful orange jacket. There was a pink haired teen as well, though she was giving the blond next to her hidden glances.

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Tsunade had been yelling at Naruto for being a brat after his three year training trip, and Sakura her prized student had been glancing at her Naruto-_kun_, when all three heard three loud thumps in the room. Turning just 90 degrees to the right, left for Tsunade, they saw by the windows a peculiar thing. Three outlandish people were laying atop each other rather provocatively. Just as quickly as they had landed they were up and dusting each other off and staring right back at them.

It was a stare off...first a-hole to stop staring lost a million zenie! No? How about a million gold coins! Ok...a million yen! Works for me too...you crazy currency freaks. The one to break the stare off was Sicerio as he turned and looked out the window, "Uhh...girls...I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

The girls turned around and to their amazement...stood a Village. To be exact, it was the Village hidden in the Leaves. Lily just looked over at Sicerio like he had committed a felony. Course...it helps when you absolutely loathe the Wizard of Oz like she did. So she smacked Sicerio over the head. "You mean we're not in Brooklyn anymore dumb ass."


	4. Introductions to the Universe

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fanfiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 26 (technically 25,026)

Lily: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

Red: Age 26 (technically dead)

Cindy: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

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Naruto found himself in the strangest position he'd found himself in years. Ever since that time he'd accidentally kisses Sasuke-teme and had two beautiful girls bash his skull in. Yeah...even worse than that kind of awkward moment. Or the time he'd woken up in Kakashi-sensei's house with a wicked hangover and a bloody man beside him. It was horrible trying to be explained to that his sensei had died of a nosebleed.

What kind of strange and awkward position did Naruto find himself in? The kind where Sakura had pounced on him shouting loud obscenities at the new arrivals, while Ino of all people had magically appeared in his arms as well (Naruto has to love me as an author now!), and was shouting her own string of obscenities at Sakura for annoying her otouto. Tsunade in a drunken stupor was asking the man of the arriving group if he wanted to have a good time.

"Soooo...how's it...gonna go in?" said that very same drunken Tsunade. Her arm was drooped over the man's shoulders and her lips were nearly upon his...when to their amazement, Tsunade was forcefully pushed back away from him. Naruto, Sakura, Ino, and Tsunade were all stunned at this. Who had the strength to push the Hokage away?

"Stay off my man hussy!" cried out Lily...who then blushed a deep red over her...territorial words. The two brown haired arrivals looked at the redhead as if she'd grown a second head (Twice the Vulgar mouth!). Instead she turned away from them whistling an innocent tune.

"Ok..." Sicerio began, "Now for something completely random!" To his credit, Sicerio did not know about Gai and Lee...had he known he would not have uttered the phrase...or maybe he would have. Who knows? Its not like he's based after the author in any way, shape, or form.

There! From the East! Two dust trails came in closer and closer, until bursting from those dust clouds two very three dimensional Gai and Lee made some nice guy poses. All of them faster than we can blink or even think, but who cares? They were dashing MEN after all! "You called for us?" Gai began in a deep Australian accent for no apparent reason. His answer was a swift blow to the forehead by Tsunade because the author paid her to get rid of the short entertainment. Lee...followed cowering in fear of Tsunade's mighty wrath (her words...not mine.

Lily once again smacked Sicerio upside the head, "Before you get us killed dumb ass." Sometimes, no matter how much she loved the man...she wanted to strangle his neck and then bash his body against some walls...and then throw his mangled body on the bed and sex it up...wait a tick! Thats just sick!

Sicerio from his place on the floor (anime effect), sweat dropped (two in a row!), and muttered, "Yes mother dearest." He stood up and dusted himself off as if nothing happened (Three in a row baby!!), and made himself look presentable. "Hello strange alien.." WHACK!"...nice...nice people. My name is Sicerio, I come from the head huntin-..." WHACK! "...this is Lily," he gestures towards the redhead with blue eyes, and a throbbing vein in her forehead, "And this is Cindy," he gestures to the chuckling/jealous/depressed woman.

Naruto was the first to walk up to the three and had a mischievous glint in his eye, with a simple seal and a puff of clouds he tested the man to see if he was a pervert or not. "Sexy no Jutsu"

There before Sicerio was a sight not unlike he'd ever seen. A teen blond haired, blue-eyed kid that was naked underneath the clouds. While Lily and Cindy turned red in the face and refused to look at each other, naughty dreams about Sicerio and themselves, Sicerio put his hand forward and palmed the breast winking him in the face. "Thats funny...they look real"

Everybody fell over, their legs twitching in the air. Naruto back in his annoying orange suit, and his hands holding to keep himself from being touched again found comfort in three ladies laps, "An'...an'...then, he touched me!" wailed the loud blond. They each nodded and cooed at him as if he were a baby...which he was in their case. (Baby Brother, Baby Boy, and Sexy Baby.)

At length when things had calmed down Tsunade, the one clearly in charge demanded a response. When Sicerio had continued to ignore her and was instead conversing lightly with the other two strangers, she cocked back and aimed one of her Super Punches to the back of his head. His fate was set in stone...he was a dead man. He couldn't be anything other than a civilian...a samurai at best maybe.

To the Naruto Universe characters, they were surprised when Tsunade's hand stopped. She herself was angry that she'd been stopped and not even budged the man. Whatever was holding her back was not the greatest thing for ninjas all around.

Then that voice kicked in. With his back to the Naruto characters, Sicerio spoke up in that suave voice of his, "You shouldn't hit a person with glasses in the back. No matter your profession," and turning around they could see the eyes. The kind of eyes that told the story of death and pain, blood and guts.

"We've been through a very, very long day miss Tsunade. One of us is dead today...and his death has lead us here. I think its safe to say we're not in our basement anymore. We're going to need a base of operations if we're to find a way back..._if_ there's a way back," this new voice was laced with a hidden depth of sadness. A well brimming to the top, and yet not shimmering for all to see. Held back for the face of strength. They had been through a lot.

Tsunade considered the option only for a moment, but if they were to stay here they'd need to do something in return. The answer was standing behind her eating popcorn at the theatrics. Naruto, Sakura, and Sai all needed a new sensei. Here in front of her, were three people whom she assumed could all use this invisible force. "That is fine," came her calmed voice, "in return you will need to educate some of our shinobi. Be productive."

Sicerio turned around to consider her and her words. His eyes though murky from the brown, had hidden wheels turning and turning behind the dark depths. He turned to Lily for her input, and she looked back at him. Changed from the pale redheaded beauty, she seemed more ethereal right now. Lost in her own thoughts and...musings of Red's Death. When she noticed his gaze she nodded, and he changed his view to Cindy. She was...less hurt than she felt she should have been, but there wasn't much she could do in the way to hurt herself. She looked back at him and Sicerio nodded knowing what she meant...she didn't care right now.

Sicerio looked into Tsunade's blue eyes and he gave her a smile, "Deal...naturally we'll need an apartment, training space, equipment, life insurance for those who don't make it, and a hot water." WHACK!..."Ok...I'll _assume_ you have hot water." WHACK! "Fine! Jesus Christ woman! We'll need some Midol for the crazy bit-" WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

Tsunade looked _almost_ in horror where the man in front of her was being pulverized. Almost because the woman had been able to get to the man when she hadn't. Almost not because she really wanted to beat him herself as well. "Ino, go get Sai and take him to training grounds thirty-seven..."

She was interrupted by the man on the ground who despite his beating was smiling up at her, "Just by any chance can we make that seventeen?" The question only brought him a more severe beating, now by Lily and Cindy. It was a regular old reminiscencing time for Naruto, Sakura, and Ino...when the girls had beat him daily.

"Training grounds..._seventeen_...then," came her irritated voice. "Sakura, Naruto, head to training grounds seventeen and clear it up...make sure to stretch." Tsunade was grinning like a Cheshire cat...not that she would've known what one was. "Come Sicerio-_kun_, Lily, Cindy...we have your evaluation to process."

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Perhaps it was just him...but Sicerio had the sinking feeling that he wasn't well liked today. First Red ups and kills himself by doing...whatever he'd been trying to do. Then some blond brat in orange offers him breasts and then says he molested him. Then this _broad_ kept pushing and pulling him on the way to _evaluate_ them. From what he'd seen they wrote in something akin to kanji...so it was some sort of Japanese culture. But the symbols were slightly different...something that only happens from being in a culture slightly different, which results from place and time. Either they'd gone to some weird universe above or below theirs where the Japanese culture had developed differently...or in some other time in their own universe Japanese culture was very anime like. (Not 1990's).

They walked past vendors and shops and all of the stuff looked interesting and new...but then he saw it. The one thing that he'd spent many nights craving over a 120 page report..."RAMEN!"

The women winced at the sheer decibels in his yell. "Thanks...I wonder if people in Kumo heard you loud enough?" This sarcastic question was met but blank stares. '_Oh right'..._Tsunade thought to herself...'_they're not from around here.'_ "Fine...its uhh...a village about 1,800 kilometers from here.

"Ma'am...a sound wave that was traveling 1,800 kilometers would require a decibel level at its base so high...up there in the millions most likely...it would split the atomic structure of everything within 1,750 of those kilometers," came the smart response. Ok, Tsunade had to give them credit...they were pretty smart. Not many outside of a medical field knew about the atomic structure. Besides...what person besides a scholar knew about the decibel levels?

_Just to pass the time_, Tsunade would ask a few more questions about fields she barely even knew of. "Oh yeah...you sound smart enough, tell me kami...why don't we float off the ground?"

Her mere question sent a throbbing vein on the express lane to Sicerio's forehead. She was honestly...asking about..._gravity?_ "Miss...the reason is so obvious children know the answer before the even understand the implications of such. The answer is gravity. A natural force of the universe in which matter attracts matters based upon a universal constant multiplied by the two masses divided by the radius squared. The standard Earth gravity setting is accounted for at 9.8 meters per second."

Ok...he passed. He was smart, and beyond that...he knew he was smart. Fortunately for he pride and dignity, they were closing in on the training grounds. "Right...so...since we're almost there let me explain what you'll be doing." She turned to the three and put on a serious face. "Naruto, Sakura, and Sai are shinobi. They are trained to kill...and they need a new sensei...a...teacher if you will," she did as best she could to explain. "If you three want help...then you have to help us."

Her answer was the three just brushing past her, "Fine...but you also owe me ramen when we win!" came the ever annoying voice of Sicerio DeMiyo.


	5. When Ninjas Attack

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fanfiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 26 (technically 25,026)

Lily: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

Red: Age 26 (technically dead)

Cindy: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

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Walking out onto the training ground, the two parties stood towards each other and guaged the others. Naruto, in the middle of his group was around 5'6", obviously around fifteen years old, with blond hair and a orange and black jacket. His sandals looked blue, and his spiky hair was held up by the bandanna like cloth and metal on his forehead. His most defined features were these black whisker like marks on his face, and the red spiral on his back.

To his right was Sakura. A pink haired girl with a red dress and black shorts. She had bright green eyes and stood somewhere around 5'4". She also had the bandanna like thing around her forehead and blue sandals. Though her toes if you looked closely had recently gone through a pedicure as it looked. She also looked fifteen.

To the right of Naruto, stood Sai. He had black hair, and blue clothing and tan shorts. He had a sketch pad at his side instead of the holsters the other two wore, and he looked bored. He stood around 5'5" and maybe sixteen. He could heard muttering 'penis' over and over again as if were tormenting him.

Across from them stood at the center Sicerio. He looked like he was in his early twenties despite being twenty-six. With his dark brown hair and brown eyes, he looked plain compared to the three ninja genins. He seemed to have the chakra aura of a villager, and yet he had stopped Tsunade cold in her tracks from destroying him. He was obviously the man in charge of the three foreigners. He stood as giant to the three Ninja at 5'10.5". He wore a simple pair of shorts with a muscle t-shirt that they'd been wearing for the exercise that morning.

To his right stood Lily, a woman with bright red hair and ocean like blue eyes, much the same as Naruto's eyes. She looked roughly 5'6" and late teen to early twenties as well, despite being twenty-five. She wore a simple pair of sweatpants with the word 'Kitty' written on the back, a gift from Sicerio to be sure. To top it off she wore a flowing shirt that covered her skin between waist line all the way up to around her neck and then out to cover her wrists.

To the left of Sicerio, stood Cindy. She was the shortest of the three, at roughly 5'3". She had long flowing brown hair with hazel eyes. She wore a skirt, and a blouse. Her feet were socked with sandals, much like the ninja counter-parts. She was also looked around her early twenties despite being twenty-five.

Tsunade had long since walked out of range to be caught in the crossfire, sitting in a tree watching in interest. Here she stood and waited to see what would happen.

But the action was rather dull. Both groups were still sizing the other up. It was Sakura who spoke up first, "Why should they even deserve the chance of being our sensei's if their chakra is so low?"

Naruto was about to respond when the answer came from Sicerio instead, "Better question Pinky...why do three grown adults have to teach three teenage brats how to kill right?" His question was sarcastic and calm...the kind of mixture that easily spoke of the venom beneath it to egg her on.

You could see the veins in her forehead as growled and slammed the ground, instantly commencing the fight as rock and bits went up. As the dust settled the three ninjas were gone, and the three foreigners remained, standing with their backs to each other softly whispering.

"If they're ninja then they should be sneaky about their attacks. Attacks hidden within attacks. Be on your guard," came the soft and bright whisper of Lily.

"Any direction," reminded Cindy from her position.

"All we have to do is either flush them out, or stun them," came the tactical whisper of Sicerio.

They began calling up the energy of the under-verse, slowly channeling it and bending it to their will. Sicerio built an invisible barrier around them, a bubble made up of his stretched strings. Lily let her strings coax alongside Sicerio's in strategic places, as to act as an offense to his defense. While Cindy, ever mindful of the 'any direction' she had herself reminded them of, worked her strings into the ground beneath them. They had set up their defenses, now they were waiting for the ninja teens to make the first move.

In the trees Naruto hid behind a tree trunk, signaling towards Sakura and Sai, whom he could barely see. Apparently the foreigners were expecting them to make the first move. In his mind he kept reliving that moment...wondering what it was that the man had done to stop Granny Tsunade.

_At length when things had calmed down Tsunade, the one clearly in charge demanded a response. When Sicerio had continued to ignore her and was instead conversing lightly with the other two strangers, she cocked back and aimed one of her Super Punches to the back of his head. His fate was set in stone...he was a dead man. He couldn't be anything other than a civilian...a samurai at best maybe._

_To the Naruto Universe characters, they were surprised when Tsunade's hand stopped. She herself was angry that she'd been stopped and not even budged the man. Whatever was holding her back was not the greatest thing for ninjas all around._

_Then that voice kicked in. With his back to the Naruto characters, Sicerio spoke up in that suave voice of his, "You shouldn't hit a person with glasses in the back. No matter your profession," and turning around they could see the eyes. The kind of eyes that told the story of death and pain, blood and guts._

That man...he'd seen death before, probably even taken lives before. Tsunade had been stopped instantly. No slowing down, not even a pushing backwards. He had foreseen the attack and pushed back equally to stop her dead in her tracks.

Sakura was thinking along the same lines. _'Fucking assholes. Called me Pinky! Nobody calls me Pinky. Nobody!'_ Ok...moving alone away from the crazy bit-...

Sai in the meantime was checking out the male foreigner. _'Nice decent chest, looks like he's been working out. I wonder what his peni-...'_ Alright, this is ridiculous. Is it so bad anymore nobody is sane but Naruto? NARUTO MAN! I mean...come on! He's the crazy one. Ramen this and Ramen that. Hokage this and Hokage that. Sure he's a decent looking guy and he really deserves the bit-...Pinky...or someone else...(coughHinatacough)...but is it so bad now that he's the only sane one?

I mean...Tsunade had the moment earlier where she basically begging Sicerio for a good time.

_Tsunade in a drunken stupor was asking the man of the arriving group if he wanted to have a good time._

_"Soooo...how's it...gonna go in?" said that very same drunken Tsunade. Her arm was drooped over the man's shoulders and her lips were nearly upon his..._

Just too many moments to count correctly. Otherwise the three ninja were preparing to attack. The plan was simple...attack from the three holes they had left in their sides. Right in between where they were facing waiting for their attack.

They were blurs as they fly across the ground in zigzags. A powerful punch flying through the air courtesy of Sakura, an ink like monster courtesy of Sai, and an army of Naruto's courtesy of Gaara...I mean Naruto.

They zoomed in closer and closer, the three foreigners tensing for impact. It was the ninjas who came to a 'surprising' end. They came to a dead stop, and then they were surprised to feel tiny cuts begin to trace themselves on them, but before much damage could happen they pulled back stunned.

Naruto getting a pretty good idea of what was going on, took a kunai and threw it at the three. The kunai zipped right along its deathly path until some ten feet away from the foreigners, it stopped, and then was slit in half.

So this was the power that had stopped Tsunade. Something evidently not chakra...nothing they'd ever encountered before. You'd almost think the three were lesser gods if they didn't appear somewhat normal. The two women looked a little frightened, but the man...he looked like a god in this case. His eyes betrayed nothing. He was not afraid, he did not fear for his life. He was calm and collected.

Sakura charged once again, diving beneath the ground's surface and Naruto was grinning, readying his kunai for when she disassembled whatever they were using by coming up from beneath the ground. Sai too was preparing. He was preparing to sketch the penis of the man whom they called Sicerio.

The two ninja were sort of unnerved when a bump appeared in the ground but then receded. Sakura soon came back out of her hole and was rubbing her head. Virtually they had no way to go beyond this barrier. They were protected in all directions, and the defense even had an offense.

Sicerio took the moment to speak up, "One day Naruto, all three of us will be able to do each of these three things and not depend on the others. Given that kind of strength...what could you ever do to surpass it?"

Sicerio was either really smart as some believed. Or he was really stupid and got lucky a lot. Naruto was brimming with loathing for basically being told he didn't measure up. The field was almost instantly filled with red aura-ed looking Naruto's, and Sakura and Sai knew well enough to take cover. Dashing out of the way before they could be caught in the crossfire.

With a loud demonic growl, the field of Naruto's charged forward and slashed and rasangened and slashed some more at the invisible strings, but all that occurred was the slow depletion of Naruto's in the field.

By the time just three were left, Lily and Cindy were winded, and they, with permission, flagged themselves out. Three against one, as Sakura and Sai returned warily. Technically five against one. But that didn't change Sicerio's outlook on the matter. "Give up shrimp...you don't stand a ghost of a chance."

"I'm going to beat you and become Hokage! Believe it!" just...take a guess who said that. (Sai?) NO!

All five ninjas pounced, sliding, zipping, or flying in to attack the prone man. Given the fact that two of the foreigners were gone now, he should be much weaker. To their surprise ten wiggly string like objects blared into view. "Like I said little boy, you don't stand a chance."

Five of the wiggly strings retracted and molded themselves around his body, while the other five sharpened almost invisibly thin again if it weren't for their aura. Each of them gave off a shimmering green aura. "Bring it on shrimp," came the cocky voice of Sicerio.


	6. Remote Assault

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fanfiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 26 (technically 25,026)

Lily: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

Red: Age 26 (technically dead)

Cindy: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

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Naruto, Sai, Sakura, and Tsunade all found themselves in awe of the display of might. When a ninja reaches a certain point in their power, when they no longer conceal themselves, they simply leak an aura of chakra. The more powerful they get, the more visible the aura becomes. The Kyuubi, in its infinite chakra, had set the world into a cold dread when it emerged from its slumber. The Yondaime himself, had displayed an aura of chakra much similar to this, giving hope to his village. Relatively of course, the Yondaime had effected Konoha...the Kyuubi had been able to affect the _world_.

Sandaime had himself had a small visible aura in his prime, and his students, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, had a faint aura. Famous ninja like the Shodaime, or Itachi were said to have their own faint auras.

The fact of the matter was, here was a complete stranger, who had an aura. It wasn't exactly chakra, but it certainly was impressive. When looking at Sicerio, he was covered up in this green color. The dome was green...and most likely covered the ground as well. The tendrils of the greenish force, were waving in the air. The wind was ruffling the hair of every person nearby in a dramatic moment. And, much to the surprise of many, the dome of ether, slowly contracted...till it nearly fit like a glove over him.

He smiled feraly at the three ninja, "Its play time kiddies." He began to sprint at them, and another thing that was amazing, was that he was fast. One step and he was halfway to them. The ether had to be reducing the friction or something...because it seemed unreal!

The three ninja acting on instinct, flew away from their spot in opposite directions and watched as two tendrils smashed into the ground resulting in several cracks, and an impression to made at least two feet into the ground.

Sakura made her way towards Sicerio at a fast pace, readying a fist to let it fly into his face, when she instead slid to carry his leg out from under him. Despite her attempt, he raised his foot, and cartwheeled off to the side as an ink monster flew right through where he had just been.

Naruto watched in keen interest as Sakura and Sai came time, and time again to undo everything that was Sicerio and his ether force. After watching for several moments of the two tiring themselves out, Naruto gave them a silent signal and sent several kage bushin as if to crowd him, and let them explode upon close proximity...as in...beside him and on top of him.

All three ninja having the same idea, used this moment when the field should be at its weakest, let fly hundreds of kunai and shuriken. They heard rips, tears, splatters...it was enough to make Lily and Cindy sick.

Everyone looked in horror into the fading dust at where Sicerio should have been. But alas, he was not to be found. Lily looked in a mix of sorts between falling to her knees and crying, and walking up to those _teenagers_ and bashing their holy f-----g head in! Her thoughts...were well mimicked by Cindy...but Tsunade in the shadows wondered. They weren't ninja...that was for sure...but he...was a soldier of some kind. Not a samurai or ninja...but something else.

Sicerio in the meantime, had let his hand be cut once and tore off a bit of his shirt leaving it in that spot as we went with the dust from the explosion into the trees. His smile was maniacal...he'd show these kids he could teach.

As the weight of the world seemed to be crashing down on the ninja and the two female foreigners...Sicerio was lurking in the darkness. He burrowed his way into the ground and followed his general idea of where they were. He gave it just a bit of time, and let his tendrils slip beneath the earth and grab onto what he was sure was the first set of legs. He could faintly hear screaming and could feel some struggling. So he fought with the legs harder...all the way muttering about how crazy these three must be to resist three tendrils of pure energy.

Meanwhile, above ground, everyone was looking at Sakura as if she were a banshee (again). She seemed to be looking at her teammates with pleading eyes before her face was pointed up into the sky as she seemed to be pulled into the earth a little bit and then stop before she started to wiggle around.

They just shook their head at Sakura's weirdness and sat down to give condolences to the dead.

Sakura, on her part, had been just fine. Then she felt something crawl up her leg. Then two somethings. She couldn't help but scream as she felt a third piece wrap around her waist and rub dangerously between her thighs. She was being raped and couldn't even see what was doing it! She has a tendency to exaggerate.

Sakura saw the others give her a strange look and sit down, as if by some miracle...or truly cruel curse, another tendril came up and wrapped around her mouth as her knees buckled and she came down to the ground as well. Her eyes began to roll as she felt a fifth tendril stabbing wildly up at her. She could only make squeaking noises as one of the times...it hit _the _target. Not exactly what it had been aiming for...but exactly what your perverted little minds have been stuck on for at least four paragraphs.

Her eyes rolling into the back of her head, she could do nothing but squeak and moan into the tendril covering her mouth, which, as pure energy shouldn't be able to do this...as she felt her inner walls expand from the tendril. '_Oh gods...oh gods...mmph...oh gods...'_ was all Sakura could think at the moment. She had a fairly good idea of what was going on...and she didn't know how she felt about it.

The others, getting tired of her disrespect for the dead, came around her and looked at her. Lily and Cindy being more trained could barely see the shimmer, but they themselves began burrowing underneath the ground quickly. The ninjas had no clue what was going on till Sakura suddenly opened her mouth and gave out a load and luscious moan. Before it all stopped and she fell to her side, juices leaking from her shorts.

Given a few minutes time...Sicerio came out of the ground looking very sheepish, "Its not like I can see through the ground!" he said to the irate women behind him. "Come on man! I thought I had all three of them and they were struggling!" His answer was a swift kick in the ass by both.

Sicerio sighed and resigned himself to his fate. He smiled very embarrassed at them, before offering a few words, "I swear I can't see through the ground."

Naruto and Sai looked confused...Tsunade didn't know how to feel before she started snickering. Then burst out laughing so hard she fell on her butt rolling around in tears. Now Naruto and Sai were more confused than ever.

"I kinda though that I had all of your legs..." Sicerio added on...now more ashamed than anything. Mentally he wondered if you could call this remote fingering.


	7. The Oddities

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fan fiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 26 (technically 25,026)

Lily: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

Red: Age 26 (technically dead)

Cindy: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

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It was just a few hours later. Tsunade, having deemed their skill worthy of the Konoha forehead protectors in the meantime till they could go back home. They were all lounging about the park. Naruto sat with Sakura practically on his lap. It had taken just a few hours for that 'remote fingering' to stimulate her into awakening her abusive relationship with Naruto to encompass kissing and hugging, even if he was having a tough job of not getting bruised for each one. The smile on their faces however was enough to show love was blooming in the air.

Yes, love was indeed blooming in the air. Despite a small fiasco where Sai was convinced Ino had a penis and became obsessed with drawing her, and a random fan girl that attached herself to Sicerio and claimed to be carrying his child...not much else had happened. They were getting to know each other. Their past, their present, what they planned for the future.

The Ethereal Users noted that the ninja teens pasts usually tended to be somewhat dark, or in Naruto's case a never ending void of nothingness. While the ninja teens noted that the Ethereal Users' past was decent enough till it concerned Sicerio, the Enigma, himself. The best they could get was he had been in a war, and was working against some of the people from the war.

In fact, lets just listen to the conversation for once!

Naruto sat down on a bench, and almost immediately Sakura was beside him, "Uhm, Naruto...can we talk?" she seemed rather nervous and dominating all in one go. Naruto, according to his Code of Conduct concerning Sakura Clause 86 on page 94, under Article 69..."Listen to the words of wisdom from the goddess Sakura."

"Yes...Sakura-chan?" he asked in return as the other were beginning to sit down. "Is there anything I can do for you? Back rub? Massage? RAMEN!?" he snowballed into hysteria.

Her response was rather natural, to slap him upside the head, "No you moron! Ugh...men." She reverted back to her nervous attitude, "I...wanted...to...uhm...oh fuck it!" she exclaimed grabbing a fist of his blond golden hair and forcing his lips to smash against hers.

Now...for those of you who think Naruto is just about to awake from a dream...please raise your hands. (Almost all the hands go up)...nice...nice...but too bad! (collective sigh)...It happened. More to the point, its occurrence freaked out the nearby people, Ethereal Users not included, and stopped one Yamanaka Ino on her path to Billboard Brow.

Sicerio and Lily exchanged meaningful looks while Cindy looked on wistfully...wondering why Red had practically killed himself. He had been a fetching man...lacking in the specifics of 'man'...but a kind and compassionate soul. She wondered deeply as she looked on at the blond haired loud mouth with his pink haired vixen, and the brown haired Enigma and his red haired beauty. What was a girl to do? The answer arrived from an old saying "If you can't beat them, join them..." Now this brought along a brilliant idea.

Before she could enact her devious plan Sai stood and bowed to Ino...for reasons unexplained other to be courteous...it was a part of his new books he was reading. He smiled at her appreciatively, "How's about you and me get a room sir?"

I'm sorry...I think my ears are screwed in wrong...what did he say?

The group eyed the new development with keen...'interest'? 'Digust'? They watched in a certain way that kept them uncertain. How is a person supposed to react to that? Perhaps the way firecrot-...I mean Ino answered.

"What did you say?!" she demanded coming up in front of him poking his chest harshly. His response was a shrug, perhaps he hadn't done it right. The book said it worked.

"I'll have you know I'm not a guy!" she screamed into his face. Slowly a look of understanding washed over his face...it was...not the understanding we would get from that sentence...that very suggestive exclamation. He hadn't heard a single word..._not_...

"Penis?" he asked under his breath. Ino...having her excellent ninja ears heard him however. Her face rivaled an embarrassed Hinata's as she shook in furious rage. Sai knew this was retreat and regroup time. He knew the moment she began trying to stab him with her kunai.

"Get back here you lily livered, butt munching asshole!" she shouted as they ran away into the distance. Bound to become husband and wife no doubt. (I wonder why that situation seems so familiar?)

Our attention shifts to a suspicious character hovering just a few feet away from Sicerio...who has been staring at him this entire time. It takes the figure a total of fifteen seconds to jump in his lap and proclaim her undying love...it takes a total of two second for _both_ Lily and Cindy to become green with jealous and punt the girl halfway across the Fire Nation both screaming, "Get off my man!"

Our little group is lucky they didn't notice each other say the exact same thing. The others noted though...and chuckled in amusement. Course by others...by now this just means Sicerio, Naruto, and Sakura.

Sitting down, they both took up possessive reigns beside Sicerio and glared at him, as if accusing him of knowing her. His only reaction was to sigh and give a strong but short defense, "I've been here for five hours...I have no clue who she is."

Yep...quite an eventful time it was. In either case, Tsunade agreed to put them on as outside help, or in other words, advisers. They'd be on the Roster of active ninja...but would not be required to do missions. Defend Konoha yes...but fight for its missions no.

After their few hours of rest and relaxation, not to mention being shown around the village (city or at least town), they headed back to Training Ground 17. There Sicerio stood at the reign, "Now we are going to learn together the limitations of the Universe. To begin with...let me explain to you what you need to know as your foundation." He began to get into an old conversation he'd already had.

_"I believe that no amount of words could convince you of what I have to say...so rather instead...a demonstration would be more beneficial," and with that he looks off into the kitchen right in the open room next living room they were in, and before they could ask what caught his attention, they too noticed that a single plate came hovering towards them from the kitchen._

_They watched the thing hover to a spot in between the group and waver up and down, before doing little back flips, if it was possible for a plate to do a back flip, and dances of kinds it seemed. Their attention was snagged suddenly by the sound of Sicerio's voice again, "Lily...do you remember our discussion about my thoughts before I left?"_

_All eyes diverted to Lily now...who at another time might have whammed the sly oaf beside her in the back of the head for putting the spotlight on her it such strange situation. But upon thinking about something vague came to mind, "This universe draws energy from a universe below it?"_

Then there was the actual explanation in and of itself.

_"I've been thinking about the universe lately." And she knew where this was headed...he wanted his thoughts to be known should he die...and in return for his silent plea to be remembered she gave a small hug that she 'forgot' to stop giving to his head, pulling him close to her center._

_"I believe," he continued, "that the universe that we live in is just a middle ground. That their is universe underlying to this one, where infinite energy resides...or at least as near infinite as the human mind can imagine." He stopped to think on this again a little._

_"This universe is almost completely unattached. There are however, small points where what is on our side can channel this energy...though I believe it must be objects of living essence and mind. A small piece to every piece of the universe channels this energy I call ether into this level of the universe." his words are that of an abstract attachment._

_"I think I can conclude, that if this is true, that with enough energy channeled, you could create an overlying level to the universe. Where different laws bind the world." he settles his thoughts to look up at her, his brown eyes curious for her opinion._

The three ninjas naturally demanded a demonstration of their own despite having 'seen' an invisible force cut them , and hold back some of the Kyuubi's power.

Sicerio demonstrated by wrapping a very bright ethereal string around Lily's middle and picking her up into the air before setting her down.

The three ninja couldn't help but be stupefied by the sight before the. A grown woman being picked up into the air by a string. Not one of the Kyuubi's tails lashing out against the world trying to destroy it...or chakra. But something far different.

Sicerio pushed on, "It is my belief that if you use any of this, it'll help create a proficiency with you're standard of attack and defense. You're physical, perhaps even mental state."


	8. The Ending Sorta

Normally I don't give out a disclaimer because its fairly obvious I don't own the story...if I did...why would I be writing fan fiction? Great question...and moving on. I do want to say that the Ether characters that are original, Sicerio, Lily, Cindy, and Red are mine. You can't have them. Not for a bajillion dollars.

Sicerio: Age 27 (technically 25,027)

Lily: Age 26 (technically 25,026)

Red: Age 27 (technically dead)

Cindy: Age 25 (technically 25,025)

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It was a few months later we find our favorite, or at least my favorite, characters once again at Training Ground 17. A few months had been like changing from 2 to 18 on an exponential graph. It was staggering. Lets focus in on the characters and you'll see what I mean.

The first person we find is Sai, for once in a great while without Ino trying to kill him, grope him, maim him, or hurt/please him in any way. Now he could create those...ink creatures...to stay alive for several hours. He had tried for a long time to work directly with the strings, but he seemed to lack a creative force behind it. Or at least that was the best Sicerio could explain it to him. This mattered little to our creepy Penis guy. He was more concerned with protecting Ino. Though he had no clue why he desired to do so.

The next person we find is Sakura. Having near perfect chakra control, she had managed quite well. She could flex her strings into invisible knives, or widen them into shields. She had trouble flowing much power into them however, and so focused on adding the strings into her Tsunade like style of smash 'em and bash 'em. That and Naruto's ass.

Then there was Naruto. His own chakra control had made leaps and bounds like it always seems to. He could only control three of his strings at a time though. Given with a field full of Naruto's, it still made for an impressive wiggly sight.

Though none of the Ninja's were on any sort of scale comparison with the Ethereal Users, they had a lot more experience in actual combat, sans Sicerio. They were also on their way to replacing the Sannin.

The Ethereal Users however were another story. Seeing as they still had their own war to fight they managed to climb the scales faster than the beginners could. Of course, that didn't mean they had to go. Once Sicerio had figured out to open a portal, without losing his body in the process, the Ethereal Users went to their own world, to discover a world right after Red had gone and sort of blown himself up.

It was a fond farewell...full of tears, orgies, and a visit from some other characters you've probably never heard of like Mogul, Pierre, and of course, Ender and his wife.


	9. Author's Announcement

**Author's Announcements:**

I know hardly anyone reads my profile (which wouldn't matter since it's out of date anyway), so I have posted these following announcements in all of my stories to let you formally know that I will be attempting to write chapters for most of my stories once again. I cannot guarantee anything, but I am most willing to make the effort.

That's the important part. Here come the details (your queue to leave if you want).

**Reasons Why I Haven't Been Writing:**

Well…geez, put me on the spot without time for cookies or milk. I haven't been writing mostly because of the combined dedications my life has required of me. In the time since I wrote _Memoirs of a Time Traveler_ I have done the following things, each further complicating my life as a burgeoning adult:

1. Began a polyamorous relationship.

2. Managed to get my girlfriend of five years pregnant.

3. Fought with the parents of the newest member of our 'Triad' in the Triangular relationship.

4. Finally given up the idea of trying to treat both of my girlfriends equal in public status and married my pregnant girlfriend (to avoid the evil state of Indiana's bureaucracy).

5. Had my mother-in-law move in to help us with bills.

6. Had a child whom we call Alex.

7. Managed to obtain a 35 hour job (which previously had been 20 hours since after #3 but before #4).

8. Have continued my undergraduate education throughout the entire process.

**Reasons Why I Will Begin Writing Anew:**

These are the reasons why I'm more optimistic about a renewed writing!

1. Resigned from my job since my boss is a douche and was probably going to fire me anyway.

2. Finals are over!

3. Looking for another job and taking care of Alex, but still plenty of free time from the additional hours (some 70 in my week) which have been freed up recently.

4. Because I hate to see 'abandoned' on my stories!

I look forward to presenting everyone with wonderful new material on old ideas. Let it be known, however, that not all of my lack of posting is from a lack of writing. I have written three chapters for various stories when my computer crashed around seven months ago. Don't blame me, blame the elves.

So, without further ado, I bid you welcome into a new age of writing by Ultimagu.


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